The Wrong House
by Write-Eat-Sleep-Repeat
Summary: 1st September, 1991: Harry Potter gets sorted into Gryffindor on his first day in Hogwarts. We know his story, we know what he does. Let's focus on some others, some people who have little-to-no effect on what BS Harry Potter and crew get up to. Lucina Carlton and her twin brother Kmillen; not special, not very interesting, just magical and trying to get through Hogwarts alive.
1. Introduction

_**AN:**_ _I'm redoing this, megaly redoing it. It's not even the same story anymore. It's…I didn't like the original, it was pretty crap._

 ** _Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by J.K Rowling. I only own Lucina and her family, along with the plot idea. If I gained any money from this, I'd do it a whole lot more regularly._**

Introduction

 _23:47 Friday, July 17th, 1980.  
_ A cry rang out through the hospital ward as a baby boy came into the world. This boy, with his tiny fists flying about to hit the air and his lungs working to full capacity to check how loud he could be in the future, was going to be called Kmillen, because his mother liked the sound of it. Kmillen Jacobi Carlton was born weighing 7 pounds 9 ounces and was very, very loud. But his mother couldn't rest yet. "Ok Mrs Carlton, the next one's coming. Just a little more." The nurse said. Constance gripped tight onto her husband's hand and almost screamed as she did the next push. Lucina Penelope Carlton was born 5 minutes to midnight on July the 17th, 1980 and weighed 6 pounds, 15 Ounces. She didn't cry as loud as her brother did and she didn't kick about too much. The nurses cleaned her and her brother up and put their beds right next to each other. When their mother woke up, they were taken to her and fed for the first time. Lucina fed particularly well and Kmillen fidgeted a bit, like he was trying to fight tiny invisible ninjas or something. Constance looked at her children proudly as they slept afterwards and prayed that they'd be this sweet forever. But, as she must have known, no child stays small and cute forever.

The twins were around 8 when they started showing 'talents'. Things that other kids can't do. For example, Luci would suddenly have books that had been on the top of the bookshelf, Kmillen would have the cookie jar that he couldn't reach, toys would be broken one second and fixed the next. It was obvious that it was because of the children. Constance could not be happier. Her little babies, showing already at such a young age, and Lucina had even started (to a degree) to control it. Though Kmillen, and Lucina to a certain extent, was just using it for selfish reasons it was to be expected. They were smart kids, but they were just kids "Luci. Kmillen." Constance said as she sat down in front of them. Lucina instantly turned and looked at her while Kmillen needed a bit of encouragement to listen "You two, like Mummy and Daddy, are special. You're magical."  
"Like Wizards!" Kmillen said happily, throwing his arms up. Constance smiled widely and nodded.  
"Exactly like wizards." Kmillen jumped up in joy and Lucina tilted her head in confusion.  
"Wizards don't exist." Luci said with a sigh, thinking her brother to be an idiot for falling for it. Constance sighed and shook her head slightly before taking out her wand.  
"Avis." She muttered, making the paper that was in front of the children fold magically into birds and start flying. Lucina stood up and reached her hand up so one of the paper birds landed on her hand. It tweeted and Lucina smiled.  
"It's real." She whispered "Magic is real." Constance smiled at the sparkle in her daughter's eye, so glad that just a simple spell could bring her child such joy. How she'd get to Hogwarts without exploding would be a miracle.

On their 11th birthday, Luci and Kmillen scurried downstairs and eagerly sat down, watching the windows, to see if the owl would come with the letters. They'd been waiting for three days for it and they thought that it'd be a definate that they'd get it on their birthday. The owl landed on the outside windowsil and Lucina got up to open the window and let the owl in. While Kmillen took the letters from the owl's feet, Luci petted the bird and fed it before kissing the top of its head and allowing it to fly off with a final screech. The twins ran upstairs with their letters and jumped onto their parent's bed "They came!" Luci said excitedly.  
"We've got them, look look look." Kmillen said, almost shoving his letter into his father's face.

They were trembling wrecks of eagerness when it came to shopping. They got their robes, their hats, gloves and cloaks from Madam Malkin's, two copies of each book on the list from Florish and Blott's, their wands from Olivander's (Luci had rosewood with a Kelpie Hair core while Kmillen had Ebony with dragon heartstring), their cauldrens from Potage's, their telescopes and scales from Wiseacre's, a few quills and bottles of ink from Scribbulus Writing Instruments and then came the animals, which Luci was looking forwards to "Wow." Luci exhaled, seeing all the animals in cages just looking at her and all seemingly begging without words for her to pick them.  
"I want this one." Kmillen said excitedly, looking at a bat. Luci turned and saw the animal he was looking at.  
"We can't have bats, stupid. Only Owls, Cats or Toads. Honestly, you're so dumb." Kmillen stuck his tongue out at Luci, who copied the action and turned with her black hair flicking behind her. Her eye caught on one cat which mewed at her when she saw it "Mum." She said, walking to the cat "Can I have this one?" Constance looked at her and smiled.  
"Of course honey. Kmillen, have you found one that you want?" Kmillen nodded, holding a Natterjack Toad in his hands.  
"It looks just like you." Lucina teased as Constance payed for the animals. Luci had permission so she opened the cat's cage and it slowly walked forwards the two steps it took for Lucina to take it in her arms. It was only a kitten and Lucina smiled, kissing the Balinese kit's head. She stroked her hand down its fur as they walked down Diagon Alley towards Sugarplum's Sweet Shop just for a treat to the twins for being on their best behaviour.

It was as they were walking down the crowded cobbled street, Luci nibbling at a liquorice wand and Kmillen stuffing Chocoballs into his mouth, that Lucina was pushed unceremoniously by a small group of boys into a boy with black hair. She almost dropped her bags but managed to regain her composure "I am so sorry." She said to the boy, whose glasses had fallen off his face, and picked his glasses up.  
"It's fine." He smiled and then they carried on walking their seperate ways, Luci having to half jog to catch up to her family. She didn't realise that she'd just met the Wizarding legend Harry James Potter, or that he'd be in her school.

 _ **AN:**_ _This was a really bad ending, I know, but I think it's better than what I did : This was a really bad ending, I know, but I think it's better than what I did previously._


	2. Chapter One

_**AN:** I know that the Intro was pretty weak but...I have no excuse. It was written over literally a month. I have a terrible thing called procrastination and I pause things right in the middle of sentences, not really knowing what I was thinking the next time I go to them. This is kinda shit as well._

 **Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by Joanne Rowling. I only own Lucina and her family, along with the plot idea and slightly weak character development. No money is earned from this and if it was then I'd be rolling around in maybe £3. Maybe not even that.**

Chapter One:

Lucina couldn't sleep. She was shifting about on her bed to get comfortable but it just didn't work. She was too worked up, excited for Hogwarts. They'd be setting off the next day but she just couldn't sleep and it wasn't really helping matters that Kmillen's toad wouldn't shut up. Tabitha, Luci's Balinese kitten, jumped up onto the bed and curled close to Lucina's leg to sleep and Luci stroked her soft fur to try and calm herself down. Constance looked into the room and sighed when the dark green eyes of Lucina shone in the light "Luci, it's late. You should be asleep."  
"Can't. Too excited." Luci muttered so that Kmillen didn't wake. Constance sighed and walked over, patting Tabitha on the head softly.  
"Remember what I told you when you couldn't get to sleep on Christmas?"  
"Try and concentrate on dreaming about what you'll do." Lucina said with a nod "But that just makes me more excited!" She whined and Constance sighed fondly "Can't you use magic to get me to sleep?" The girl asked, pouting sadly. Her mother got out her wand and, with a soft muttered spell and a tap to Luci's head, the girl drifted off to sleep.

Luci dreamt about so many things; wizards and witches and dragons and magical potions and what house she'd be put into at Hogwarts and all the friends that she'd make while there. It was one of the best dreams she'd had ever in her life.

* * *

Constance and Isaac, holding the hands of Kmillen and Lucina, walked down to platform nine. Luci, when she'd seen her ticket, had frowned and muttered about "Nine and Three quarters isn't a platform, that's ridiculous." but then she remembered that her mum had literally turned Tabatha into a glass vase and could turn lights on and off with just a mutter and wave of her wand, so she shut up. The twins pushed their carts down to platform nine and looked to their parents for instructions.  
"Just run at it." Constance said, pointing at the pillar between platforms nine and ten. Lucina looked at her like she was crazy as Kmillen just set off and ran with seemingly stupid trust in magic. He went straight through it and Luci looked around to see if anyone else had seen it. It seemed no-one had, so she just took a deep breath and ran as fast as she could towards the hard brick.

And passed straight through it to a platform with a sign of '9 ¾'. Kmillen was already waiting there and Constance and Isaac came through the wall soon afterwards, going straight to Kmillen "What just-" Luci muttered but was interrupted by someone else going through the wall and hitting into her "Oww." She whined as she rubbed at the small of her back.  
"Be more careful." The boy said pretentiously, making Luci glare at him slightly. She turned and walked away from the elder ginger boy towards her family, her head high in a way that could be seen as snobbish. When she was out of his eyesight, she whined and rubbed the small of her back again but didn't make a huge fuss about it. Constance and Isaac did the usual thing of 'make sure to write to us, have fun, and for Merlin's sake, Kmillen, don't get into any trouble too early on' before kissing their little ones on the head and waving them off to the train. The twins hurried to get their own compartment and sat across from each other, just kicking each other softly while the train pulled out of the station. The twins waved manically at their parents and then relaxed for the ride.

The silence that they sat in was comfortable, since they were forever used to having nothing to say to each other. Kmillen spoke first "What d'ya think it'll be like?" He asked in excitement and Luci shrugged.  
"Mum said it's a castle, filled with lights and ghosts and animals." The girl sighed and looked out of the window. Tabatha jumped up onto the seat and curled up next to Luci, purring happily when her owner stroked her soft white fur. Kmillen's toad just croaked multiple times, an unequal amount of time between each croak, and Kmillen patted it on the head twice "We'll be able to do magic." Lucina muttered happily and then looked at Kmillen with a grin "Won't it be amazing?!" She seemed to just be getting the message that she was going to do magic, because she was practically vibrating with excitement. Kmillen rolled his eyes at his twin and then grinned wider than Luci ever thought possible for anyone.  
"I'm gonna be a wizard." He chuckled and Luci nodded.  
"I'm gonna be a witch." She sighed. They spent another few minutes basking in the beauty of their lives until the compartment door opened and a bushy-haired girl looked in.  
"Have you seen a toad?" She asked with a small sigh "A boy named Neville's lost one."  
"Only toad here is my brother's." Lucina smiled apologetically "I'll make sure to keep a look out." The other girl smiled politely and then walked away, closing the door before she did. The twins looked at eachother and burst out laughing at the strange encounter. They didn't calm down for a while, until a ginger boy dressed in robes knocked on the window and opened the door. It was the same kid who'd bumped into Luci at the platform but he didn't seem to recognise the colored girl.  
"You two should change into robes. We'll be arriving soon." The twins nodded and then Luci stood up to grab her bag. She was a bit too small to reach it so she got her wand from her pocket. While Kmillen was no help, getting his own bag with little difficulty, Luci slid her wand under the handle of her bag and tugged the heavy case down into her arms. A soft grunt left her mouth involuntarily as air was forced from her lungs but she just placed it on the seat and opened it. Tabitha nosed the contents probingly and Luci shooed her out of the way so that her robes could be accessed.  
"I'll go to the bathroom." She said to Kmillen, who nodded, and then left with her robes. She made sure to hurry past so no-one would see her, hiding herself in the bathroom and quickly getting dressed. It was weird, because the robes felt too floaty and she didn't like it, but it was the uniform and Luci would never break the rules.

As she was walking back to Kmillen, she saw someone was walking down so, when they got close enough, she turned to the side and let them pass. They just walked straight past, nudging Luci in the chest and stepping on her foot as they did, without even looking at her. Slightly peeved off, Lucina pouted and looked at him "You're bloody welcome." She called and he stopped, turning to her. She didn't falter her little pissed off pout even when he set her with a slight deathglare. Neither of them did anything but look at eachother before Luci spoke "Apology accepted, because my foot does hurt." She snarked and then turned and walked off. She got to the compartment and, seeing that the blinds were open, she opened the door and sat heavily on the seat, very narrowly missing sitting on Tabbie's tail.  
"Woah, someone's grumpy." Kmillen commented. Yes, she was grumpy. Her chest hurt and her foot hurt and she just really hated rude people, like that ginger boy from the platform and that blond brat.  
"Eat a rat's tail, Kmillen." She half-growled, hiding herself in her two-size-too-big cloak. Of course, the raven-haired girl had insisted upon having a cloak too big for her. It wasn't too long, but it was billowy and cuddly. At his twin snapping at him, Kmillen shut up and went to opening his chocolate frogs. Since they'd first gone to a wizard sweet shop, he was obsessed with the stuff and had around 25 cards. Luci had given him her two, because she didn't ever really like collecting stuff like that, and he'd thrown every-flavour beans at her as payment. Little bastard.

The rest of the journey consisted of Kmillen speaking occasionally and Luci just staring out of the window, until there was a knock on their compartment window "We'll be arriving in two minutes." The ginger boy from the platform said as he looked in "You should leave your luggage on the train." The twins nodded and Luci stayed looking out of the window with Tabatha on her lap.

* * *

Hand in hand, as every close pair of siblings do, the twins hurried off the train and were met with a goliath of a man. Luci's eyes widened as she looked up at him, trembling slightly because of how intimidating this man was "Firs' years! Firs' years over here!" He called in a thick Scottish accent, so booming that it made Luci jump. Kmillen just chuckled and Luci thumped him on the back of the head. The big man seemed to see a student he recognised because he smiled widely "Alright there Harry?" He called and Luci looked behind her to see who it could be. Sadly, there was a sea of first years so there was no way of finding out who 'Harry' was. Getting over the appearance of 'Harry', the large man called out again "C'mon, follow me. Any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!" Luci and Kmillen followed him, while getting pushed a bit by the many other students, down a steep, narrow path. There could have been trees but neither twin was sure as they walked wordlessly down the path after the large man, wondering how long it would take to get to Hogwarts. As though answered by Merlin himself, the man called out behind his back "Ye' all get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec. Jus' round this bend here." People looked in awe at the majesty of the castle, Luci actually gasping at how beautiful it looked in the dark with the starry sky reflected against the lake so it looked like the castle was on an impossible hunk of rock in a realm of space. It seemed to glow, with each light coming from the windows, and added to the magic that could almost be felt by each child. No matter what they were -'pureblood', half-muggle or muggle born- they had never encountered such magic. Someone behind Luci scoffed a bit.  
"All this fuss over a school on a bit of rock." He said and Luci supressed the urge to turn and give him a proper verbal bollocking, instead setting her jaw and just gazing at the place that would house her and her brother. It was amazing.

They walked closer to the lake, which had boats lined up, and the large beardy man turned to the children "No more'n four to a boat!" He called and then they all went to the boats. Luci and Kmillen obviously went into one boat with another pair of twins, these two being identical and very chatty. On the journey across the lake, with one point where they had to stop speaking because they had to duck their heads, the four of them spoke and found out quite a bit about each other. The girls were called Padma and Parvati Patil, they were 100% sure of their houses -Padma in Ravenclaw and Parvati in Gryffindor- and they were always ready to gossip. They'd heard rumours that Harry Potter was going to be in Hogwarts. At the blank looks of the other set of twins, the Patils gaped at them and filled them in on everything about Harry Potter. By the end of the trip, Luci felt like she knew more about Harry Potter than she did herself. Neville's toad was found and then they went up a flight of steep stone steps and crowded around the man as he banged heavily three times against an oak door.


	3. Chapter Two

_AN: So, obviously, this continues on from the last chapter. I wanted it to start at the same point that Chapter Seven starts in the book, mainly because I was bored of altering the words after copy-pasteing them. No copy-paste here though...Maybe the school song, and the Sorting Hat's song_

 **Chapter Two**

The door swung open after the Large Man knocked, shocking Luci slightly. Stood in the doorway was an elderly black-haired witch with emerald-green robes. She looked very stern and reminded Lucina of Aunt Shanice in Ireland, who hated it when you scuffed your shoes on the floor or messed up the table-cloth and had a preferred method of a thin cane to the hands for reprimand (unless you were really naughty and then you got a sharp whack on the bottom) "The firs' years, Professor McGonagall." The large man said with a smile and the woman nodded a bit.  
"Thank you Hagrid." Luci smiled a bit at his name. It was as rugged as the man himself and, now that Luci knew it, there was no other name she could think of for him "I will take them from here." And she opened the door fully. The children's eyes widened almost comically at the entrance hall. It was huge, as wide as an average house with torches lighting it up and a huge staircase made of smooth marble facing them. The gawping children followed Professor McGonagall, some children scuffing their shoes on the stone, past a large doorway holding back loud chatter and into a small chamber. Lucina mumbled apologies when she accidentally elbowed someone while being pushed to the side "Welcome to Hogwarts." Professor McGonagall said loud enough for every child to hear "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your houses." A few children, who thought they knew for definite what house they belonged in, smiled smugly and gave their friends a nudge of 'I know' "The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your house will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your house, sleep in your house dormitory, and spend free time in your house common room." Lucina was instantly hit with nerves at that. What if no-one in her house liked her? She'd be forever surrounded, at least in the school, by people who didn't accept her. Kmillen squeezed her hand comfortingly, instantly knowing when his sister is distressed, and then dropped it with a soothing smile "The four houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each house has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your house points, while any rulebreaking will lose house points. At the end of the year, the house with the most points is awarded the house cup, a great honor. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever house becomes yours." Then she straightened up slightly and looked over each child individually while she spoke "The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting." Lucina's face paled. The whole school? Everyone? Her hands began shaking and her knees trembled. She can't stand in front of the school. Instantly, she went to nervously plaiting her hair "I shall return when we are ready for you," Professor McGonagall said "Please wait quietly." And then she left all the children in the chamber, left them all to absorb their fear of what the ceremony would be. While she was fretting, Luci felt a cool chill go over her and she screamed slightly as the chill made her tense almost painfully. Thankfully, she wasn't the only one to scream at that moment, and her and Kmillen looked to see what had made the girl scream.

Ghosts. Real ghosts. About twenty of them, all paper-white and translucent, gliding fluidly through the air and chatting to each other about something that Lucina didn't pay attention to until a ghost wearing tudor-like clothing saw the children "I say, what are you all doing here?" It asked and none of the shocked children said a single word.  
"New students!" A fat monk ghost boomed joyfully with a huge smile "About to be sorted, I suppose?" Without a word, around twelve students nodded "Hope to see you in Hufflepuff. My old house, you know."  
"Move along now." Professor McGonagall said, having re-entered, and made all the children look at her "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start." In a line, one-by-one, the ghosts went through the opposite wall and Lucina's bright eyes didn't leave them until the tails of the final ghost's coat disappeared through the wall "Now-" McGonagall said to the pre-teens, who all straightened like soldiers in slight fear "-form a line and follow me." With heavy legs and trembling hands, Lucina stood in front of Kmillen and behind a girl with short black hair and then they all followed the Professor through the huge double-doors and into the Great Hall.

It was very accuratly named. Four long tabled were spaced evenly, two on either side of the obvious walkway, with hundreds of candles floating above each and golden plates and goblets lain out across the wood. At the very head of the hall was another table where all the teachers were sat, Lucina could see Hagrid sat beside a rather plump looking woman wearing what seemed to be gardening clothes. The centre chair was more like a throne, with an elderly man sat on the luxorious cusions; he wore very bright clothing and a large hat, a long beard sprouting from around his mouth and long silvery hair falling from his hat. That must have been Professor Dumbledore. The stumbling first years were led to that table, all facing the older and staring students with the ghosts sat mixed with them. Lucina, suddenly more self-concious, looked down to her feet and her sparkling shoes which where slightly hidden under her robes. She heard the bushy-haired girl speak quietly "It's bewitched to look like the sky outside. I read it in Hogwarts, A History." Lucina, intregued, looked up and saw the night-sky above her with hundreds upon thousands of stars winking down at the pre-teens. Her jaw dropped slightly and her green eyes sparkled just as much as her shoes did, just as much as the stars as though that light was reflected in her eyes. Professor McGonagall placed a stool in front of the children, making them all look at it, and then placed a frayed and dirty hat on the seat. Luci pulled a slight face, hoping that she didn't have it put it on. It could have lice, or something, and how would that decide what house they were in. It sprung to life and shocked Luci as it spoke, making her grip her brother's arm tightly and Kmillen laugh fondly at his sister's reaction.  
 _"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty_  
 _But do not judge on what you see._  
 _I'll eat myself if you can find_  
 _A smarter hat than me._  
 _You can keep your bowlers black,_  
 _Your top hats sleek and tall,_  
 _For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting hat_  
 _And I can cap them all._  
 _There's nothing hidden in your head_  
 _The Sorting Hat can't see,_  
 _So try me on and I will tell you_  
 _Where you ought to be._  
 _You might belong in Gryffindor,_  
 _Where dwell the brave at heart,_  
 _Their daring, verve and chivalry,_  
 _Set Gryffindors apart;_  
 _You might belong in Hufflepuff,_  
 _Where they are just and loyal,_  
 _Those patient Hufflepuffs are true,_  
 _And unafraid of toil;_  
 _Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_  
 _If you've a ready mind,_  
 _Where those of wit and learning,_  
 _Will always find their kind._  
 _Or perhaps in Slytherin,_  
 _You'll make your real friends,_  
 _Those cunning folk use any means,_  
 _To achieve their ends._  
 _So put me on! Don't be afraid!_  
 _And don't get in a flap!_  
 _You're in safe hands (though I have none)_  
 _For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_ At the end of the song everyone clapped as it bowed at the tables and the First Years laughed a bit at the randomness of this Sorting Hat. So all they had to do was put on this singing hat, Luci thought with a soft chuckle, and it would say what house they were in. Luci had an idea of what she'd be in. Ravenclaw. She was smart, she was ready to learn, and Mum always said she was very witty. Professor McGonagall stood in front of the children with a long roll of parchment.  
"When I call your name-" She spoke loudly so the whole hall heard "- you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted." Then she cleared her throat and started to call off names "Abbot, Hannah." A blonde girl scurried nervously over to the stool and sat down while the hat was placed on her head, covering her eyes. After a few moments, the hat called out loud.  
"HUFFLEPUFF!" A few children jumped at the sudden broken silence as the table on the far right cheered and clapped and Hannah sat down at the Hufflepuff table with the Fat Ghost cheering and having a huge smile on his face.  
"Bones, Susan!" She was another Hufflepuff, and the Fat Monk was almost vibrating in happiness at another new addition "Boot, Terry."  
"RAVENCLAW!" The Ravenclaw table, the closest left, burst into cheering and clapping while Terry hurried over to them.  
"Brocklehurst, Mandy!" Another Ravenclaw, with a girl called Lavender Brown being the first Gryffindor. The table on the far left started making a ruckus, obviously the brave and proud Gryffindors "Bulstrode, Millicent!"  
"SLYTHERIN!" Lucina watched as the Slytherins cheered for Millicent, all seeming very dark and proud of themselves in a different way to Gryffindor's students.  
"Carlton, Kmillen!" McGonagall had trouble pronouning his first name, since Mum seemed to have made it up on the spot. Kmillen bounded over and sat down, ever the confident one, with a large grin on his face. The Hat was placed upon his head and he pushed it up a bit so that he could see. With hardly a second of thought, The Sorting Hat spoke.  
"HUFFLEPUFF!" It declared to the whole hall. The Hufflepuffs started cheering as the hat was taken from Kmillen's head and the boy hurried over to sit. He high-fived a few of the elder boys and grinned to his sister.  
"Carlton, Lucina." Lucina exhaled shakily and stiffly walked over to the stool, sitting down and keeping a straight posture as the hat was placed on her head. She, as Kmillen had done, moved it slightly so that she could see her brother. He gave her double thumbs-up to give her confidence and she smiled softly.  
 _"A second one? In so little time."_ The Hat said in her mind _"Well, you're certainly very different to him, aren't you? I see a great potential in you; a need to prove yourself to your brother, a thirst for the attention and confidence that he has. You have a special spark and mind, a personality that can't be matched so easily. You're so strong and with hidden talents, there's only one house for you."_ She smiled softly, thinking Ravenclaw would have a new addition, when the Sorting Hat opened its mouth to shout out "SLYTHERIN!"

And time slowed down.

She seemed to see everything at once but nothing at all. Kmillen was all she could focus on; his face falling to a look of disappointment at his sister like it was her fault. She felt the hat being lifted from her head yet she still sat there, shocked and utterly terrified, for a second then walked like a zombie to a spot at the Slytherin table. There might have been cheering but she didn't hear, and it seemed to have died down anyway when the Slytherins saw that she looked like she'd seen Death himself. She didn't pay attention to the rest of the sorting, not even when a boy sat heavily beside her, and only looked down to her hands "Welcome!" A voice boomed kindly and Lucina looked up to see the headmaster beaming at them as though this was the best day of his life "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" Lucina looked at the man in confusion "Thank you." And he sat down, leaving Lucina to ponder about the strange words until she saw the golden plates were suddenly piled high with food. The girl didn't feel like eating, even though she hadn't eaten anything all day out of excitement scaring her into thinking she was going to vomit, so she just picked at a few things; A small scoop of mash and a few pieces of bacon, a tiny cutting of roast beef and a single Yorkshire pudding which she didn't finish. With the rest of Slytherin chattering to eachother, Lucina picked at her food and sucked on peppermint humbugs when she'd finished that. Soon the remains of the food faded and was swiftly replaced with mountains of dessert foods. Again, Lucina just grabbed a huge handfull of mint humbugs and sucked on one at a time. She was very silent until someone turned to her and spoke.  
"What about you?" The blond boy beside her said and she looked up, slightly dazed.  
"Excuse me?" She asked and the boy rolled his eyes.  
"Your family. What are you?" She'd been told by Mum that people would ask what she was, and what she actually was.  
"Both my parents are magical." She said weakly "There hasn't been a muggle in my direct bloodline ever." The blond nodded a bit.  
"Pureblood. Then again, I didn't expect less of a Slytherin. I'm Draco Malfoy."  
"Lucina Carlton." The boy didn't offer his hand to shake, which Lucina didn;t like very much since manners are important to her "Nice to meet you." She kept her sour tone hidden.  
"Is your family anything important?" He asked pretentiously and Lucina looked at him slightly insultedly "It's just that I haven't heard of the Carltons. Father never invited any Carltons to his gatherings."  
"We're a small family, consisting of many pairs of twins that have branched off to lead muggle and Wizarding lives. I doubt any high-society pompus families would care to focus on us." With a very slight bite in her words that was hidden with another mint humbug placed into her mouth, she pulled herself from the conversation.

Soon enough, the desserts disappeared and Dumbledore stood again, the hall growing suddenly silent "Just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you. First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well." He looked pointedly at a pair of identical red-heads on the Gryffindor table, who grinned cheekily at him "I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors. Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch." His face suddenly turned very grave and dark "And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death." A few people laughed but Luci saw the serious look on his face and was suddenly very scared. This was meant to be a safe place to nurture young children into fine wizards and witches, but there was a deadly threat in the school grounds? Suddenly the old man smiled "And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" With a flick of his wand, a ribbon flew out from the tip and twisted to golden words above the tables "Everyone pick their favourite tune and off we go!" The whole school burst out into a cacophony of various tunes, with Lucina being able to see that Kmillen had gone for 'La Cucaratcha' while the girl herself refused to sing.  
 _"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,_  
 _Teach us something please,_  
 _Whether we be old and bald_  
 _Or young with scabby knees,_  
 _Our heads could do with filling_  
 _With some interesting stuff,_  
 _For now they're bare and full of air,_  
 _Dead flies and bits of fluff,_  
 _So teach us things worth knowing,_  
 _Bring back what we've forgot,_  
 _just do your best, we'll do the rest,_  
 _And learn until our brains all rot."_ While everyone was screaming the lyrics, Lucina heard Draco sighing and saying that it was, and I quote, pathetic childish nonsense conjured up by an old coot. The red-haired twins from Gryffindor had chosen the funeral march and were the last to finish, with everyone clapping at the end. Dumbledore sighed happily and wiped his eyes in a way Luci didn't think was sarcastic "Ah, music. A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot." The first-years were told to stay seated until the other years had left, being led out of the room by an older student with a prefect badge.

They were led down many twists and turns to the dungeon of the school, a dark and dripping place where the moans of the more sadistic ghosts echoed and sent shivers down the spines of the children. They were then stopped in front of a portrait, which looked at the prefect expectantly "Meliusculus*." He said and the portrait nodded before swinging open. The prefect led them all into the common room and Lucina instantly knew she wouldn't like it. Lights and lamps cast a sickly green tinge over the place, with windows exposing the fact that it was partway underwater. Tapestries and paintings of old Slytherins decorated the cold stone walls with a large stone snake with an emerald eye carved above the fireplace. Grand throne-chairs were paired around small square tables while a few large couches were set close to the fire with footstools and a largeish table. Small decorative pillars had snakes carved as decoration, spiralling around the wood and stone and just staring the children down as they looked around. Expensive rugs made soft noises underneath their small feet and dark-wood cupboards and bookshelves loomed over then with skulls staring at them through eyeless sockets. The whole room had snakes and green and a stench of 'Pureblood Pride' and richkid pompusness. Each staircase leading down to the bedrooms was carved out of black marble with emeralds -if they be fake or real it was no hindrance to vanity- placed into the handrail.

Lucina and the other girls were pointed to the girl's dorm staircase and Luci found herself with Daphne Greengrass, Ursa Dupree and Paige Delarosa. She could tell that they were all pampered little princesses, all of them, with their dainty suitcases and expensive robes while she had a monster of a thing and baggy cuddly robes that you could lose a man Hagrid's size in. Luci pulled back her dark-green satin curtains of the four-poster bed so that she could thud her case onto the green and silver sheets. She unclasped the metal and then swung the top open. Underwear was hurriedly put in the drawers at the side of the bed, to avoid embarrassment, with a small collection of both Muggle and Wizard books neatly placed on top of the drawers with fairy bookends that her mum had got her. Other clothes, such as trousers and shirts and a spare uniform or two, were placed in the drawer above her underwear neatly with the third drawer being used to neatly separate her school things -Quills, pots of ink, parchment, her wand, etc. She was done way before the other girls. They were talking about home and their family and "ooh, Daphne, let me see that dress, isn't it amazing? I've got one almost exactly like that, but there are so many more jewels". Lucina just got changed into pyjamas and kicked her empty case under her bed before settling to sleep underneath the thick green duvet, outlined in silver. Just as she was drifting off, Tabatha jumped up and curled up beside her head, purring softly to help her owner fall asleep after a long day.

 _AN: * Meliusculus means Superior. Because Slytherins are dicks._


End file.
